As teachers, our line requires us to constantly
communicate, with our students, with parents, and with our colleagues. This
module has provided some important learning points which I can take away with
me when I enter school next year.
In the sessions on pronunciation, I realized that as
educators, the words we say would form our students’ schema of the pronunciation
of the words. Hence, it is important that we say words using the correct
pronunciation, so that children will be able to learn the correct pronunciation
of words since young. The sessions were useful in pointing out to me some of
the words which I have previously mispronounced. I also became more conscious
in correcting the pronunciation of these words in my daily usage.
In the sessions on oral communication, I was given a chance
to do public speaking and to observe and evaluate my own oral presentation
skills such as my body gesture, tone, voice etc. through videos taken by my peers. I felt that the experience was
very good as it allowed me to do self evaluation and reflection, which
previously I did not have much chance to do. By improving the areas I have
noted, I learn how I could be able to conduct oral presentations better.
In the sessions on written communication, I was taught how to
write emails in formal setting and how to provide feedbacks for students. I
felt that the sessions were useful as previously I did not think that there are
so many considerations when writing emails in formal settings. However, through
these sessions, I am now more aware of the format and the things I need to take
note of when writing an email in a formal school setting.
The sessions on voice production were done online. I felt
that the videos were very comprehensive and I learnt more about how I could
protect my voice. However, I felt that it would be much better if the sessions could be accompanied by practices in class, where students are given the
experience to try out different ways of projecting their voice and be corrected
of any mistakes on the spot. I felt the sessions on voice projection are
important for teachers and more time and practices could be dedicated to them.
Overall, QLK501 Communication Skills for Teachers has been a
useful course. However, I also note that the short stints for each of the
sessions were insufficient to prepare me to be an effective communicator. Hence,
it is important that in my career as a teacher that I continue to improve on my
pronunciation, my oral presentation, my written communication and my voice
projection.
